Post Date: 4 April 2008
Seattle, WA
Latitude: 47.684
Longitude: -122.264
Posted By: Josh London

Preparing for Departure: No FedEx in the Middle of the Bering Sea

After several months of preparation and hard, dedicated work by all members of our research team, the time is nearing for us to depart Seattle and meet the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson in Kodiak, Alaska. We are excited to be a part of another ice-seal cruise and are looking forward to building on the knowledge we gained last year. We are also pleased that John Goodwin will be joining us again this year. John is an Alaska Native from Kotzebue, Alaska, and his knowledge of seals and the environment they live in has proved invaluable to our research efforts. Lastly, it will be great to work with the officers and crew of the Oscar Dyson. The ship proved to be a great platform for our work last year, and we're expecting another safe and successful cruise this year.

The work involved in the logistics for one of these cruises is an amazing effort for a small team like ours. A few weeks ago, we packed 11 clamshells of supplies weighing up to 500 pounds each along with 6 Zodiacs and 6 outboard motors. All of this was loaded onto a barge which made its way from Seattle to Kodiak earlier this week. Our inventory list ranges from the tiny screws used with the satellite tags to the white hats, pants, and coats for camouflage to a 30hp 4-stroke outboard engine. And, the inventory list is checked twice and three times over because there are no supply stores or FedEx deliveries in the middle of the Bering Sea.

Most of us will spend today and Saturday running around town, doing last
minute errands, while also spending valuable time with family and friends. Ffor many of us, these three weeks will represent the longest stretch of time away from home this year.

The cruise logs we are providing this year will be a first for our program, and we hope those of you following along will enjoy and learn from our postings.